[IMRA: While Israeli officials warn that post-retreat smuggling from Sinai
to Gaza is higher than levels before Israel retreated from the Philadephi
Corridor DM Mofaz claims the opposite is the case in this interview in which
he bends over backwards to put Egypt in a favorable light.

In the interview Mofaz deftly avoids answering Hirsh's question "The fact
that you caught these two guys coming in from the Negev-is that evidence
that you're sharing operational intelligence with the Egyptians? Or did you
just get lucky?"

It should be noted that when DM Mofaz forfeited his own security judgment
(he opposed Sharon's retreat plan and until almost the last moment opposed a
hasty retreat from the Philadelphi Corridor - insisting that the efficacy of
Egyptian/PA operations should be established before Israel leaves - not
before 2006) in order to remain loyal to PM Sharon he put himself in the
situation that he has to believe that the Egyptians will come through.
After all, if the Egyptians continue to fail to perform and Ashkelon, Ashdod
and ever growing area finds itself within range of a Palestinian war of
attrition thanks to the smuggled weapons then he will share the blame with
Sharon for the hasty retreat from the Philadelphi Corridor and his political
career may be in jeopardy.]

'A Military Option Is Not on the Agenda'
In a wide-ranging interview, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz rules out
strikes against Iran and raises doubts about whether Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas has what it takes to forge a permanent peace.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 6:54 p.m. ET Nov. 3, 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9916789/site/newsweek/
Nov. 3, 2005 - Shaul Mofaz is a tough Likudnik, but he's also shown a
pragmatic willingness to negotiate with his enemies. The Israeli defense
minister was born in Tehran, and he believes diplomacy can still work
despite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call last week for Israel to
be "wiped off the map." Mofaz has forged a deep working relationship with
younger Palestinian leaders such as Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian
civil-affairs minister and security chief for Gaza. And Mofaz suggests that
real peace will have to await their ascension to the president's office. As
the man responsible for implementing the Gaza disengagement plan, Mofaz also
met last week with President Hosni Mubarak, along with Egypt's defense
minister and intelligence chief, forging a previously unreported agreement
on regional security. This week he is in Washington to meet senior U.S.
officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. On Thursday he sat down
for an interview in his suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with NEWSWEEK's
Michael Hirsh.

....
...
Regarding the disengagement from Gaza, there are deep concerns about the
rising power of Hamas and whether they're re-equipping, and infiltration
over the open border with Egypt. Just last week it was revealed that two
Palestinians were captured coming across the Negev Desert into the West
Bank. How concerned are you about this and Mahmoud Abbas's ability to deal
with all this?

The disengagement was so rapid that they [the Egyptians] couldn't prepare
themselves for responsibility in this area. But since they took
responsibility for the Philadelphi corridor [on the border between Gaza and
Egypt], the amount of smuggling has decreased. There are still some measures
they need to be taking, but the deployment of border guards is effective.
And they are stopping the smuggling of arms and people from one side to the
other. But still they have to do more.

Is there intelligence cooperation?

Well, mainly there is cooperation between two central operational "rooms" on
the Egyptian and Israeli sides.

The fact that you caught these two guys coming in from the Negev-is that
evidence that you're sharing operational intelligence with the Egyptians? Or
did you just get lucky?

We understood a year ago that area of the Israeli-Egyptian border between
Karem Shalom to Eilat, we don't have a fence. So we needed to operate in a
different way. We have more troops in this area, we are going to have a lot
of sensors and devices to make sure we will see the picture and have
intelligence. So we are becoming more effective.

So I gather that you don't see a need to put a lot more pressure on the
Egyptians on this issue?

I was in Egypt last week. I had a meeting with President Mubarak, the
defense minister and the minister of intelligence. We decided they will
increase their activity along the Philadelphi area, the two operational
rooms will start to coordinate their activity along the border, and they
should deploy patrol boats . And they promised me they would be more
effective in the coming period. Also we decided we would be more cooperative
on other issues [including] global terror.

On the Roadmap [plan for peace], are the U.S. and Israel in complete
agreement that the next moves have to come from President Abbas, or Abu
Mazen, as he is also called?

The implementation of the withdrawal plan was very painful, very difficult,
but very bold step for Israel. We think that today it is the Palestinian
turn to take action. We should move forward on the first phase of the
Roadmap plan and President Bush's vision. The first phase is the
dismantlement of the terrorist infrastructure. . But there is no move on the
Palestinian side since the declaration of Abu Mazen in the Sharm al-Sheikh
summit on Feb. 8, in which he said he would create one authority, one rule,
under one gun. And still there is no one gun. More than that, our feeling is
that Abu Mazen's intentions are good, to move forward, but there is a vacuum
of leadership under him. There are some [views] among the Palestinian
leadership that it is not our problem, it is Abu Mazen's problem . The
Palestinian security groups are not effective. They are not taking any
active steps against the Palestinian terror groups, there is no one man that
is controlling all Palestinian security, and there is a lack of chain of
command and control of Palestinian security groups.

What is very important is that the election of the Palestinian Parliament
will take place on Jan. 25. Everybody knows that Hamas intends to
participate in this election, and we believe that a terror organization that
is committed to the destruction of Israel cannot be part of this election.
We will not interfere . but on the other side we are not going to support
it.

Weren't you quoted as saying that peace will take a generation to achieve?

No, I said that Abu Mazen has good intentions but there is a lack of
activity in Palestinian security groups and they are not united under one
man. So I said for a
permanent agreement [to be achieved], it will be the next generation of the
leadership-which exists today. They are waiting for the day after Abu Mazen.
I don't want to mention names . Abu Mazen is doing his best, but he doesn't
have the support among the other leaders of the Palestinian people.